A coffee export company in Papua New Guinea is confident that the industry can continue to grow despite ongoing challenges to the sector.
PNG's Coffee Industry Corporation says this year the industry is on track to generate over $190 million US dollars from exports.
The CIC says high roadside prices for coffee at 2.35 US currency per kilogram has also been a boost for farmers.
But the general manager of New Guinea Highlands Coffee Exports, Grant Jephcott, says the sector still faces challenges to develop further, such as investment, land ownership, and stopping the theft of crops.
He says ideal climates would generate a bumper crop and rising coffee prices would ensure good revenues.
"In terms of climate, and in terms of price mechanism, the outlook is positive for the next couple of years. We've had a very good dry season, which will have stressed the trees in order for them to flower, and provided we get a decent wet season we would expect that next years crop would be maybe not a record, but be well in excess of the 1 million bags we produce annually, and the price at the moment is at a thirteen year high."
New Guinea Highlands Coffee Exports general manager, Grant Jephcott.
